Garment hanger



April 1962 s. LIFFNER 3,

GARMENT HANGER Filed Aug. 24, 1959 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS k Patented Apr. 24, 1962 3,031,134 GARMENT HANGER Stare llifiner, 234 Barrows St, Eanisstown, NY. Filed Aug. 24, 1959, Ser. No. 835,479 1 (Ilaim. ('Cl. 223-95) This invention relates to garment hangers of the type which have spring pressed parts urged outwardly away from each other to grip parts of a garment such as the cuffs of trousers or the waistband of a skirt.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a garment hanger of this type of improved and simplified construction which is efiicient in operation and economical to produce.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a garment hanger embodying this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

FIG. 3 is a sectional View thereof on line 33, FIG. 1.

PEG. 4 is a bottom plan view thereof.

My improved garment hanger includes two arms which are slidably connected with each other so that no intermediate body or supporting member is required. For this purpose the two arms have fiat or plate-like arms 5, each of which has a flat face, the two flat faces of the arms being arranged in contact with each other to form a slidable connection between the two arms. The arms are each provided with a slot 6 and each arm is provided with fastening means which extend through the slots of the two arms so as to guide the arms in their movement relatively to each other. These fastening or connecting means may be of any suitable or desired type, and in the construction illustrated they are in the form of rivets 7. Each of these rivets is secured to one of the arms and extends through the slot of the other arm, thus forming two pin and slot connections which guide the arms in their movement relatively to each other. Each rivet has a head on one end thereof which is larger than the width of the slot and the other end of the rivet may be secured to an arm after passing through a slot so that these rivets prevent separation of the arms from each other. The travel of one arm relatively to the other is limited by the length of the slots, since the rivets contacting with the ends of the slot act as stops to limit further movement of the arms.

The arms are provided at their ends with downwardly extending gripping or engaging members 8 which are preferably formed integral with the arms and which may have notches or serrations 9 formed on their outer edges to engage the garment. Preferably two of these gripping members are provided at one end of each arm so that one oppositely arranged pair of gripping members may be inserted into the cuff of one trouser leg while the other pair is inserted into the other cuff and when the two arms are urged outwardly from each other, the gripping members will securely grip the trouser cufiis.

Any suitable means may be employed for moving the arms outwardly from each other to yieldingly press the gripping members into the interiors of the trouser cuffs, and in the construction shown for this purpose a spring member 10 of approximately inverted V-shape is shown which serves the dual purpose of urging the arms outwardly and also acting as a hanger for the garment holder. This member 10 is made of spring wire and arranged so that the lower ends of the legs tend to move outwardly from each other. These lower ends of the legs may be passed through holes or openings 11 formed on the arms 5, and for this purpose the lower ends of the spring supporting member after being passed through the holes are bent to form loops 12 which form hinged connections with the arms of the holder. The upper end of the spring supporting member is preferably bent into a loop or coil 14 and a hook may have its lower end passing through this coil or loop 14 for supporting the hanger.

It will be noted that the two arms 5 are identical with each other and are merely reversed end to end, so that only a single mold is required to form these arms. Furthermore the arms are preferably reinforced at the slotted portions thereof by means of flanges or beads 17. The gripping members 8 preferably have integrally formed diagonally extending reinforcing webs or brace members 18. The opposite ends of the arms have horizontally extending webs 20 which connect the gripping members 8 and the brace members 18. The structure of the arms is consequently sutficiently rugged to enable them to stand the strains to which they are subjected in ordinary usage.

In the use of this device it will be obvious that when the gripping members are to be applied to the garment the two legs of the V-shape supporting member 10 are pressed toward each other thus causing the arms to slide lengthwise relatively to each other so that the gripping members may be applied to the garment and when pressure on the spring member 10 is released the arms 5 will move outwardly relatively to each other thus causing the gripping members to frictionally engage the interiors of the trouser cufis.

It is, of course, also possible to apply my improved garment hanger to a skirt or other garment. By applying the waistband of the skirt first to one of the gripping members 2 and then passing the waistband around both gripping members of the other arm and then back to the other gripping member of the first mentioned arm.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials and arrangements of parts, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art, within the principle and scope of the invention, as expressed in the appended claim.

I claim:

A garment hanger having a pair of arms of molded plastic material, each having a flat face, the flat face of one arm bearing against the fiat face of the other arm, pin and slot connections which hold said arms with their flat faces in contact with each other and which guide said arms for movement lengthwise of each other, each of said arms having a pair of gripping members formed integral therewith and extending downwardly from the outer end thereof and spaced side by side, said gripping members having brace portions extending downwardly from said arms, an arched spring member having legs biased to move outwardly from each other, one of said legs being connected to one of said arms and the other leg being connected to the other arm and urging said arms to slide outwardly relatively to each other, and a laterally extending reinforcing flange on each arm extending along the arm below the slot and having its lower side in the same plane as the lower edge of the arm for reinforcing the slotted part of the arm, said flange being integral with said brace portion and said arm and reinforcing said brace portion at its connection with said arm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,329,877 Barclay Feb. 3, 1920 1,331,419 Dahlgren Feb. 17, 1920 2,169,538 Rowan Aug. 15, 1939 2,420,440 Nelson May 13, 1947 2,843,298 Jagr July 15, 1958 2,940,649 Zeuthen June 14, 1960 

